Agriculture: Polytunnels

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they are considering issuing new planning guidance on the use of polytunnels.

Baroness Andrews: The Government's national planning policies on development in the countryside and on agricultural development, which includes horticulture, are set out in Planning Policy Statement 7, Sustainable Development in Rural Areas, published August 2004. The Government have no plans to issue new planning guidance specifically on the use of polytunnels.
	The considerations in determining whether, in the first instance, horticultural polytunnels come within the scope of planning controls and, if so, whether they are permitted development under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, have not changed. Each case should be considered individually in the light of the particular facts and circumstances pertaining.
	Where the decision-taker—the local planning authority, in the first instance—decides in any particular case that the erection and use of polytunnels constitutes "development" and requires a specific planning permission, any planning application should be determined in accordance with relevant policies in an adopted development plan for the area, subject to any other material considerations.

Anti-social Behaviour: Respect Agenda

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in connection with their respect agenda, they plan to have discussions with the BBC, commercial television companies and video production companies with a view to securing a reduction in the incidence of bad language and gratuitous violence contained in television programmes and commercial videos.

Lord Davies of Oldham: No. Responsibility for what is broadcast on television and radio rests with the broadcasters and the organisations which regulate broadcasting—the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the governors of the BBC, and the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority. Under the Communications Act 2003 Ofcom is required to set and maintain standards and consider complaints. Responsibility for film and video classification rests with the British Board of Film Classification.

Aviation Directorate

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many individuals from external organisations are currently on secondment within the Aviation Directorate of the Department for Transport; and how many individuals from the directorate are currently seconded to external organisations.

Lord Davies of Oldham: There are currently two people on inward secondment to Aviation Directorate from external organisations and four people on outward secondment from that directorate. This information corrects my Answer of 20 December 2005 (Official Report; col. WA 250) where I had stated that there were no secondments.

Aviation Directorate

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many officials within the Aviation Directorate of the Department for Transport are working on the expansion of Stansted airport as their sole or main job.

Lord Davies of Oldham: I refer the noble Lord to my Answer of 10 January 2006 (Official Report; col. WA 47).

Belarus

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they plan to take in 2006 concerning the United Kingdom's relations with the Republic of Belarus.

Lord Triesman: The UK's relations with Belarus are closely co-ordinated with EU partners to maximise influence. The EU's benchmarks and the common position limit ministerial contact, but offer Belarus improved relations with the EU in exchange for better behaviour on democracy and human rights. Under the UK presidency, the EU called clearly for the forthcoming presidential elections to be free and fair and agreed that the EU would consider restrictive measures if they were not. We call upon the government of Belarus to invite the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor these elections and stand ready to provide election observers to the OSCE's international election observer mission. We are also keen to increase engagement with the Belarusian people. The EU has therefore outlined further steps to be taken to this end and to strengthen support for civil society, including through technical assistance and by opening a European Commission delegation in Minsk. We will support and encourage efforts to take this agenda forward in 2006, through our bilateral diplomacy and programme assistance with our partners.

Aviation: Budget Airlines

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Department for Transport has undertaken any work into (a) the environmental impact, and (b) the financial impact of the growth in the budget airline market.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Department for Transport has not undertaken any work specific to the environmental impact or the financial impact of the growth in the budget airline market.

Aviation: Budget Airlines

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their forecast of the growth of the budget airline market over the next (a) 15, and (b) 30 years.

Lord Davies of Oldham: A supporting paper to the Air Transport White Paper called Passenger Forecasts—Additional Analysis gave a 2030 forecast for budget or "no frills" carriers of 103 million passengers per annum (mppa); that is, an increase of 93 per cent over 2004 throughput of 53 mppa. White Paper forecasts extended only to 2030.

Chewing Gum Tax

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have any plans to introduce tax on chewing gum to provide funding for the clearing of gum from footpaths.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Chancellor continues to keep all taxes under review, but the Government have no current plans to introduce a tax on chewing gum.

Civil Service: Religious Societies

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether Sir Gus O'Donnell, Secretary to the Cabinet, is patron and ambassador to any religious society within the Civil Service other than the Civil Service Islamic Society; and, if so, to which societies.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: There are two faith-based Civil Service societies. The long-established Whitehall Christian Network does not have a position of patron or ambassador. The Cabinet Secretary supports its work and gave a reading at its Christmas service in December 2005. At the invitation of the newly established Civil Service Islamic Society in 2005, the Cabinet Secretary agreed to act as its patron and ambassador. The Cabinet Secretary supports the role of staff networks in the service and will participate in a range of events throughout the year to celebrate the diversity of Civil Service staff. He has met recently with the chair of the Civil Service Disability Network and sent a personal message of support for the Civil Service Race Equality Network's annual lecture.

Climate Change: Energy Review

Lord Whitty: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What changes have been made to the assumptions of cost per tonne of carbon saved by the various technologies and energy efficiency measures made prior to the 2003 Energy White Paper; and what figures will be presented to the forthcoming energy review.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The current review of the UK climate change programme (CCP) is examining a wide range of measures for reducing carbon, covering the business, domestic, transport and energy supply sectors. These measures have been appraised on a consistent basis to estimate the cost per tonne of carbon for each measure. The appraisal estimates will be published shortly.
	For the longer term, on 29 November 2005 the Prime Minister announced that the Government would be undertaking an energy review to bring forward proposals on energy policy before the end of 2006. The review will assess progress against the four goals set by the 2003 Energy White Paper: to put the UK on a path to cut C0 emissions by 60 per cent by 2050; on the reliability of energy supplies; competitive energy markets; and to tackle fuel poverty. It will consider all options, including the role of current generating technologies and new and emerging technologies. The review will also consider long-term policy issues relating to energy efficiency and transport. The appraisal evidence from the UK CCP will be among the evidence available to it.

Extraordinary Rendition

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Triesman on 9 January (WA 11), whether Ministers or officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have held meetings with United Nations officials since 1 November at which extraordinary rendition was discussed; on which date or dates such meetings took place; and what representations were made by United Nations officials.

Lord Triesman: In answer to a Question tabled by the noble Lord on 9 January (Official Report;, col. WA 11), I replied that, as far as we were aware, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials had not held meetings with United Nations officials since 1 November 2005 on extraordinary rendition. At that time, and until 21 January, I believed that Answer to be entirely correct.
	Regrettably, the Answer was incorrect. On 22 November 2005, an FCO official attended a meeting at the Home Office with Mr Scheinin, the UN Human Rights Commission's Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Government's counter-terrorism legislation and policy of deportation with assurances. Inter alia, extraordinary rendition was one of a number of other issues that was also raised.
	At that meeting, Mr Scheinin raised concerns about extraordinary rendition and the US' human rights obligations. Mr Scheinin also asked whether the UK/US extradition treaty allowed for the use of UK airspace and airports for transit other than during extradition.
	FCO and UN officials have not met since to discuss extraordinary rendition. I apologise for providing an incorrect Answer to the noble Lord's Question.

Freedom of Information Act: Fees

Lord Taylor of Warwick: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether those seeking information about local councils, schools and hospitals under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 will continue to be provided with such information free of charge.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The FOI Act gives the Secretary of State power to set an upper limit (known as the appropriate limit) for the cost of responding to FOI requests. The public authority is not required to comply with requests whose cost exceeds that limit. The Act also enables the Secretary of State to make regulations for public authorities to charge for requests that cost less than the appropriate limit. Under the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 the appropriate limit was set at £600 for requests to central government and £450 for requests to public authorities outside central government. Public authorities could only charge for the cost of disbursements (such as photocopying and postage) if the cost of complying with the request was less than the upper limit.
	DCA has no plans at present to revise either the appropriate limits or to change the fees that may be charged under those limits. As with any new regulations, however, provision was made for a review of fees and a ministerial commitment was given at the time of the passage of the regulations through Parliament that this should take place after the Act came into force. The timetable for any review has not been set and no decisions have been taken on the scope of any review.

Gulf War Veterans: Pensions

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the average time taken from the date of the making of a claim for a war pension by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War to determination by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal in each of the past three years.

Lord Drayson: It is not possible to give an answer on the average time taken from the date of the making of a claim for a war pension to determination by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal as it is not one continuous process. However, figures are available if the claims and appeals events are considered separately. The average clearance time for claims made by veterans of the 1991 Gulf conflict is 95 days for 2002–03, 86 days for 2003–04 and 89 days for the year 2004–05. The average clearance time for appeals to the Pensions Appeal Tribunal made by veterans of the 1991 Gulf conflict is 253 days for 2002–03, 209 days for 2003–04 and 215 days for the year 2004–05.

House of Lords: Council Tax

Lord Hanningfield: asked the Chairman of Committees:
	Whether residential apartments located within the parts of the parliamentary estate owned by the House of Lords are exempt from council tax.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: Residential apartments located within the House of Lords part of the parliamentary estate, including one within the Palace of Westminster itself, are not exempt from council tax.

Housing: Right-to-Buy Scheme

Lord Dubs: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many council homes have been sold under the right-to-buy scheme in each local authority in London in each quarter since 2003–04.

Baroness Andrews: The number of local authority dwellings sold under right to buy in each quarter since 2003–04, as reported by London boroughs was as follows.
	
		London: Right To Buy Sales
		
			  2003–042004–052005–06 
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 
			 Barking and Dagenham 170 162 161 160 139 116 94 82 66 57 
			 Barnet 64 62 57 68 45 n/a n/a n/a 22 14 
			 Bexley n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Brent 40 52 46 47 49 58 42 n/a 26 19 
			 Bromley n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Camden 123 131 131 133 120 132 111 70 51 26 
			 City of London 14 17 7 21 17 13 6 6 2 1 
			 Croydon 97 85 70 72 58 36 48 22 9 8 
			 Ealing 79 65 74 121 57 66 37 16 17 18 
			 Enfield 63 90 128 101 65 72 48 31 22 25 
			 Greenwich 173 180 168 180 139 113 104 53 34 40 
			 Hackney 204 n/a n/a 123 n/a n/a 166 97 94 431 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 56 n/a n/a 65 56 61 64 34 38 401 
			 Haringey 147 121 89 143 107 149 130 87 101 54 
			 Harrow 19 20 17 25 n/a n/a 10 11 18 7 
			 Havering 72 59 73 54 35 23 45 21 28 21 
			 Hillingdon 43 44 36 54 30 26 28 21 21 24 
			 Hounslow 90 112 80 90 57 46 40 23 17 85 
			 Islington 123 228 182 210 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 13 22 20 11 24 13 8 4 6 1 
			 Kingston upon Thames n/a n/a 11 15 16 11 5 4 4 5 
			 Lambeth n/a n/a n/a n/a 355 280 216 108 128 53 
			 Lewisham 259 284 228 n/a 355 n/a n/a n/a 98 n/a 
			 Merton 53 47 41 51 22 47 38 15 15 11 
			 Newham 214 176 268 230 216 213 142 77 69 44 
			 Redbridge 31 34 31 29 32 29 31 21 21 23 
			 Richmond upon Thames n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Southwark 427 334 287 3,841 466 450 408 418 293 2,171 
			 Sutton 29 30 58 28 29 18 6 5 4 3 
			 Tower Hamlets 344 237 80 154 185 173 256 252 172 108 
			 Waltham Forest 41 59 84 104 78 70 48 151 19 12 
			 Wandsworth 6 8 154 75 98 87 59 52 45 n/a 
			 Westminster 58 54 76 79 51 42 32 20 15 11 
		
	
	Source: Local Authority returns to ODPM (P1AB)
	Note:
	n/a = quarterly return not available due to missing return from local authority.

Housing: Social Housing in London

Lord Dubs: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action they are taking to increase the proportion of three and four bedroom properties in the Housing Corporation's investment programme for new social housing in London.

Baroness Andrews: In the 2004–06 Housing Corporation-approved development programme for affordable rented homes, over 27 per cent of the homes are three beds or larger. The Housing Corporation's bidding guidance for bids in London for the 2006–08 affordable housing programme made clear that the proportion of three bedroom plus homes should be increased to 35 per cent of the affordable rented programme. The Housing Corporation is currently in the process of assessing the bids for this round, the results of which will be known shortly.

National Insurance Contributions

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What additional national insurance revenues would be generated if the upper earnings limit was raised to (a) £50,000 per annum; (b) £100,000 per annum; and (c) £210,000 per annum.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: An estimated £84.2 billion and £88.8 billion will be collected in national insurance contributions in 2005–06 and 2006–07 respectively.
	The additional revenue from raising the upper earnings limit is provided in the tables below.
	
		Table 1—Raise upper earnings limit (UEL)/upper profits limit -- (UPL) to £50,000UK accruals cash (i.e. not constant prices terms), £ billion
		
			 Contributions type 2005–06 2006–07 
			 Class 1 2.5 2.6 
			 Class 4 0.4 0.4 
			 Total 2.9 3.0 
		
	
	
		Table 2—Raise UEL/UPL to £100,000 -- UK accruals cash (i.e. not constant prices terms), £ billion
		
			 Contributions type 2005–06 2006–07 
			 Class 1 4.2 4.5 
			 Class 4 0.8 0.9 
			 Total 5.0 5.4 
		
	
	
		Table 3—Raise UEL/UPL to £210,000 -- UK accruals cash (i.e. not constant prices terms), £ billion
		
			 Contributions type 2005–06 2006–07 
			 Class 1 4.7 5.2 
			 Class 4 1.1 1.2 
			 Total 5.8 6.4 
		
	
	These estimates assume the UEL would also be raised for state second pension (S2P) accruals and consequently contracted-out rebates would increase. Raising the UEL for S2P has a consequent effect on long-term S2P expenditure which has not been included in these estimates.
	The provided figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response, which could be significant given the scale of the changes.
	The information has been provided by the Government Actuary's Department.

NHS: Revenue Allocations

Lord Campbell-Savours: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	To what extent pound per head of population calculations determine the allocation of resources by strategic health authorities.

Lord Warner: Revenue allocations are made direct to primary care trusts (PCTs), not to strategic health authorities. The allocations are made to PCTs on the basis of the relative needs of their populations. A robust population base is determined for each allocation round. The allocations are then calculated using a weighted capitation formula. The formula determines PCTs' target shares of available resources.
	The components of the formula are used to weight each PCT's "crude" population according to their relative need (age, and additional need) for healthcare and the unavoidable geographical differences in the cost of providing healthcare (the market forces factor). The formula is used to set targets, which then inform allocations. The formula does not determine allocations. Actual allocations reflect decisions on the speed at which PCTs are brought nearer to target through the distribution of extra funds (pace of change policy).

Northern Ireland: Victims' Groups

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 10 November (WA 106) on victims groups in Northern Ireland in receipt of funding, whether they will place in the Library of the House the business cases for the successful groups concerned.

Lord Rooker: Some 155 groups, organisations and projects involved in providing support for victims were supported over a seven-year period between 10 April 1998 and 31 March 2005 from a variety of funding sources.
	All decisions on public expenditure are subject to value for money assessment in compliance with Her Majesty's Treasury guidance. The information required on business cases can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Wind Energy: Offshore Turbines

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the procedures for the granting of planning consent for the construction of sea-based wind turbines.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: Developers can seek consent for their projects either under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 or under the Transport and Works Act 1992 (TWA). Consents sought under either legislative route for projects in English waters are dealt with by the DTI, while the Welsh Assembly Government are responsible for applications under the TWA for projects in Welsh territorial waters. In either case a licence under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 is required from Defra. (In the case of projects in Welsh territorial waters Defra administers licence applications on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government).
	Applicants for consents must advertise the fact that applications are being made in the local and national press to give an opportunity to anyone who objects to the project to make representations to the Minister responsible for making the decision. The responsible Minister will take all material issues into account in reaching a decision, including national renewable energy policy and any local impacts of the project which are identified during the public consultation process.

Wind Energy: Offshore Turbines

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the locations of sea-based wind turbines off the coast of the United Kingdom; and how many wind turbines there are at each location.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: There are currently four operational offshore wind farms off the coast of the United Kingdom. They are:
	
		
			 Project Location Number of Turbines 
			 Blyth Blyth, Northumberland 2 
			 Scroby Sands Great Yarmouth, Norfolk 30 
			 North Hoyle Between Rhyl & Prestatyn,North Wales 30 
			 Kentish Flats Whitstable, Kent 30 
		
	
	A fifth offshore wind farm at Barrow, with 30 offshore wind turbines, is currently under construction. Information on wind farms is also available from the BWEA's website at www.bwea.org.

Risk Management

Lord Broers: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they have taken to fulfil the commitment made in their response to the report of the Science and Technology Committee Science and Treaties (3rd Report, Session 2003–04, HL Paper 110) that proper application of the precautionary principle would be "incorporated into Guidelines 2000"; and
	In light of the commitment made in their response to the report of the Science and Technology Committee Science and Treaties (3rd Report, Session 2003–04, HL Paper 110) that proper application of the precautionary principle would be "incorporated into Guidelines 2000", why there is (a) no mention of the precautionary principle in the revised Chief Scientific Adviser's guidelines; and (b) no mention in the body of the text of the guidelines of the 2002 report of the Interdepartmental Liaison Group on Risk Assessment.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The revised Guidelines on Scientific Analysis in Policy Making (October 2005) includes a cross-reference to the Government's Managing risks to the public: appraisal guidance (17 June 2005) where the "precautionary principle" appears as an annexe. The guidelines also provide a link to the Interdepartmental Liaison Group on Risk Assessment Archive (see "Useful Documents"), which includes the 2002 report.